What is it like to be a woman of color trying to succeed in Hollywood? Viola Davis articulated her struggle with a horrifying bit of imagery while accepting the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment Power 100 breakfast Wednesday.

You know the scene in "The Exorcist" where Linda Blair is tied to the bed, clearly possessed by demons, and has "Help me" written on her stomach?

"That’s how I feel every day in this Hollywood community and in my life in trying to live my authentic life," Davis said, comparing the movie's evil to the negative forces she faces daily while mustering the courage to speak out.

Black characters, she explained, have repeatedly been marginalized in Hollywood, while cinematic universes of multidimensional white people have always been on display.

"We have to be maternal, we have to be the savior, we have to make that white character feel better, we don’t have vaginas as black women," she said. "I got tired of celebrating movies that didn’t have me in it. I don't mean me as Viola, I mean me as a black woman."

"So what’s the takeaway?" she asked the room filled with stars including Kesha, Ryan Coogler, Mandy Moore, Awkwafina and Lupita Nyong'o. "My main message is: Stop taming us. Stop!" she announced to cheers.

"Everything that I am and everything that we are inside is what makes art and this world rich. 'The Brady Bunch,' 'Gilligan’s Island,' 'Leave it to Beaver' is a lie," she said. "I think that there's something to be said about being wild."

She continued, referencing her production company with husband Julius Tennon: "My big thing with JuVee Productions is there is no limit to how we see narratives with people of color. That there’s only so much I am gonna kowtow to this business, and my gift to anyone is that: Don’t let anybody tell you who you are."

Monica Lewinsky spoke to young mentees about mistakes. "Painful as they may be, mistakes may give you the chance to become that stronger, rebuilt woman; a more resilient and expanded self." Jesse Grant, (Credit too long, see caption)

Viola Davis, who attended with husband Julius Tennon, accepted the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award and gave a stirring speech about living an "authentic life." She said, "I think that there's something to be said about being wild." Presley Ann, Getty Images

Lena Dunham publicly apologized to Brittany Perrineau, left, the mother of actress Aurora Perrineau, who accused a 'Girls' writer of assault. Dunham had initially defended her friend against the claims, but has since reached out to the Perrineau family and sought forgiveness. Presley Ann, Getty Images

Comedian Hannah Gadsby opened the event by talking about the “good men” who have “garden-variety consent dyslexia” and shouldn’t be drawing a line for what’s OK behavior; “women should be in control of that line.” Presley Ann, Getty Images

Producer Nina Jacobson accepted the Equity in Entertainment Award, she says, because she's used common sense like "cast Asian people to play them" in "Crazy Rich Asians." Jordan Strauss, Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Angela Trimbur was there after writing an essay for The Hollywood Reporter about being an actress and dealing with breast cancer. She recently shared on Instagram that she would not need radiation. Presley Ann, Getty Images